Sometimes I Wonder if My Best Friend is a Fembot
by ARosebyAnyName
Summary: In just less than a summer, everything changed for Percy Jackson. Annabeth is now his best friend. Yet somehow he cannot still comprehend why she is so perfect. It's time for Percy to investigate.


**Things Change and Sometimes I Wonder if My Best Friend is a Fembot!**

**Summary: **In just less than a summer, everything changed for Percy Jackson. Annabeth is now his best friend. Yet somehow he cannot still comprehend why she is so perfect. It's time for Percy to investigate.

**Please don't forget to leave a comment!**

OOO

I am turning thirteen in two weeks. If I had known that I would have as much adventure in my life before I officially become a teenager, I would not have sulked my way through grade school. I would not have gotten into trouble in every single school that I have attended since first grade.

My so-called "misfortunes" began at an early age. My father left us before I was born. At the age of five, I was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder by a certain pediatrician who wanted to start me on Ritalin and to make me see a child psychologist every two weeks. Of course, my mother was against it. She explained to me why I behaved the way I did and why I did not need medications. She told me that it was my nature to be impulsive, volatile and temperamental. She told me that my "_vigilant_" nature would keep me alive someday.

Now if there is one thing I learned about my mother, she is always right. There was no one else in the whole universe that I would trust my life with than my own mother. She was the center of my life. She loves me more than anything in this world.

Or so I thought back then. In time, I realized that she was not the only one to hold such high esteem in my book.

By the time I started school, it was evident that I was suffering from another problem. I was having trouble reading and I was diagnosed with dyslexia. It was bad enough that my ADD brought me to various compromising situations. These included the very first of many more to follow "parent-teacher conferences" that started on the very first day that I set foot in a school. Now with both disorders, I became an official target for ridicule and malice in school. I was no longer invisible, loved and protected by my mother, but a walking, breathing and talking personification of "the boy everyone wants to pick on." I might as well wear a bull's eye shirt to school everyday, since bullies were like iron filings to my "magnetic" personality. I was so miserable I thought about ditching school every single day.

Well obviously I didn't. Each day I went back to school to face every improbable situation that either led me to the brink of expulsion or to be expelled altogether. I also managed to burn a few of those schools later. My mother taught me that I have to persevere and that I have to remain strong because this was the kind of experience that will protect me someday. My mother will always say that, "_someday_", as if there was a future that she can see besides the misery I felt everyday.

So whenever she gives me that speech, I will give my mother the most dumbfounded look and say "What? You cannot be serious mom! At the rate I'm going I will run out of chances to attend any school or worse, I will be blacklisted to attend one."

There were times that I was contemplating whether the term "_loser_" was an insult or a word to define Percy Jackson. I was always the guy in the wrong place at the wrong time. I know it sounds cliché but I give it to my mom for being always there to cheer me up. My mom will always come up with something to make me feel more important than what I really felt.

Now that I think about it, my mom could very well be a prophet since her words from the past stayed true to this day. The years of dodging and fighting bullies had evidently trained my battle reflexes at such an early age.

OOO

Like everything in life around all of us, things changed. For me, it was a positive way. Well at first at least, before I learned about that terrible prophecy about me. By the time I reached my twelfth summer of existence, I learned about my true identity. I gained power and prominence. I mean real power as in _god-like power_, like my real father, the great sea-god Poseidon. I became part of a family at Camp Half-Blood who shared the same disorders I have. I was recognized as a hero and helped save an ancient society of powerful divinities that I thought have long been dead for thousands of years. Most importantly, I gained the trust and loyalty of friends. _Real _friends.

And then there was the matter of Annabeth Chase. I honestly don't know what to make of her then. Even to this day.

Annabeth and I became good friends during my first so-called quest. She is definitely different than any other girl I have seen in my first twelve years of existence. Not that I have known a lot of girls whom I can really compare her with but I sincerely hope you get my point.

She was the very first girl who fascinated me more than that of my mom. It's weird I know to compare her to my mom but then I already told you that I have never really known any other girl in such regard other than my own mother. For me, that is quite a high standard and Annabeth definitely is in another league compared to my mom. If you tell me that my other best friend will be a girl before I became a teenager, I would have called you crazy and scoffed at your nonsense. Yet here I am, as awkward as can be, and as clueless as ever, trying to understand the feminine psyche of a girl who was already as complicated as the labyrinth Daedalus built for the Minotaur.

Speaking of challenges or labors or quests, these were nothing compared to what I went through the years with a certain daughter of Athena. Later on, when she told me one night that she will never, ever make things easy for me, I silently prayed to all the gods of Olympus, a three-finger claw to my heart included, that she was just saying that to amuse me. But knowing Annabeth, she has never said anything that she really doesn't mean. I certainly hope you understand why sometimes I have to blink twice and gulped three times when she calls my name in a certain foreboding tone that is unique to hers alone.

Which brings me back to mind why I thought my best friend is a feminine robot or _fembot_. She scares the hell out of me. She was scarier then and she is still scarier now. However, let me now categorically state that there is no one that I would trust my life with other than Annabeth. If that sounds vaguely familiar it is because I said the same thing about my mom before. Well that was before I met Annabeth. If you have seen the confidence Annabeth has with her dagger and the fierceness she has in fighting monsters, you will surely know what I mean. I can't help but watch in awe as she does it with both precision and ease. She is otherworldly and I'm not just saying that. So please don't blame me for thinking that she must be a robot. The way things were unfolding during that time, I thought anything was not inconceivable.

And don't laugh at me either when I tell you now that I did try to find out once if she was indeed a feminine robot. A _fembot_ I mean. Not one of my best moments as you will soon find out.

OOO

I think it all started when I learned that she was a child of Athena. Now I might be saddled with ADD and dyslexia, but I did manage to get a B+ in Latin solely because of my interest in Greek Mythology. Well that and the fact that my favorite teacher and future hero-trainer, Mr. Brunner, had made the subject more interesting and worth coming to school despite the prospect of being bullied to no end.

The fact of the matter was this. Athena cannot bear a child since she is one of the virgin goddesses. It is as simple as that. She herself was a freak because of her unusual birth, having been born out of Zeus' head and coming out fully matured and wearing armor and all.

Who gets to be born like that anyway? Did I mention scary? Yes, Annabeth's genealogy is really scary. I shuddered at the thought that Athena must have borne all her children from her head as well. Either that or they were custom made by the residential Greek god of the forges, Hephaestus, the maker of armor, machines, and yes, automatons, to name just a few.

My suspicion was compounded by a camp rumor that the sons and daughters of Athena did not have navels at all. Well if you are going to come out of somebody's head then there will be no umbilical cord to connect you to a mother's placenta, right?

So one day, after deliberating for two days if I can just summon the courage to ask Annabeth myself if she does have a navel or not, I decided to find out myself. No it was not that I was _scared_ to ask her knowing that the Athena cabin was not immune to those kinds of rumors at camp. But as soon as I imagined hearing my name called out when Annabeth is pissed… blink-blink, gulp-gulp-gulp… Yikes!

Ok, you guessed it right. I chickened out. Besides it might be a deal breaker to our newfound friendship so I decided against it. I think that was how I managed to justify my hesitation at that time so please don't take it out on me for being a coward.

Monsters, yeah! I can fight them any time. To face Annabeth's wrath, well that's entirely a different story.

First, I covertly approached the only other person that I thought I trusted, my good friend, Grover. When I finished telling him my theory, he gave me that puzzled look, followed by a comical grin then a contorted expression that I can only read as fear. He mumbled something about not having seen Annabeth's mid-section and all of the children in Athena's cabin for that matter.

But then it dawned upon us that Annabeth is indeed unique. She is a flawless fighter. She has nerves of steel. She is very cunning and very deceptive. She is really very attractive but it was very hard to read into her emotions. She can understand things faster than most of us. She is also a winner. There is no other battle outcome for her but to win. She is just too perfect, we thought. To make matters worse, she can beat the crap out of the two of us.

So we naturally came to a stark realization, our two minds collaborating to one sobering conclusion. Our best friend might have no navel like her brothers and sisters but only she can be a true _fembot_.

So Grover and I did something that our young minds could only hope that we were sane enough to ever think about. We devised a plan. A plan worthy of Poseidon, which in gods-speak was a plan doomed from the very start.

Annabeth had always taken a shower after sword practice on Thursday mornings. I had seen that routine so many times before that I knew right away that it will be the day we are going to execute our plan. With Grover and I doing camp inspections that coming Thursday, we set our plan to work.

As expected, Annabeth showed up for breakfast without taking her usual morning shower. On Thursdays, she has sword practice all morning and she will naturally work up a sweat. As far as I know, that is the only time that she takes her shower mid-morning. You see Annabeth is like clockwork. She has a routine to maximize her time. The girl is really built like a machine.

She was wearing her orange camp shirt and her hair was in a messy ponytail. I immediately checked the back of her jeans and yes; she did not have her Yankees cap with her. I gave a knowing nod to Grover who acknowledges my signal with a two-finger salute. A faint smile formed in my lips as I said my morning greeting to Annabeth. She gave me that smile that always makes my knees weak and buckle. After regaining my wits about me, I went to my table and ate breakfast in silence. From nervousness, of course!

OOO

Grover knocked and I followed him inside the Athena cabin. There was no one around as we both declared camp inspections loudly. The cabin was lined up with books and pamphlets on one whole side that it had an eerie similarity to a school library. There were also maps and instruments all around but everything seemed to be neatly arranged in place. I walked over to Annabeth's corner and saw immediately what I was looking for. Her Yankees cap was hanging by her desk. I grabbed the cap and wore it on my head. Grover wished me luck and I hid behind one of the bunks that were closest to the showers. I heard Grover closed the door behind him and I settled myself for the stake out. Grover will be outside to act as my lookout. I struggled slightly as I try to calm myself and stop my heart from pounding. This better work, I thought.

After so many minutes that felt like hours, I woke up in panic knowing that I had dozed off. I did not detect any movement inside the cabin and all I can hear was the background noise of the other campers outside. I was debating if I needed to get hold of Grover when suddenly, I heard the cabin door opened and someone was heading to the showers. I waited until I heard the water running before I slowly eased out of my hiding place. I have now about five seconds to get over there and try to catch Annabeth taking her top off before she becomes fully naked. Even during a covert operation like this, I owe her enough to remain a gentleman. It seems silly but I will never take advantage of my best friend.

Who am I kidding, I thought. I am practically stalking her right now and will probably be accused as a peeping tom if I get caught. Even if I'm invisible, I knew I'm not immune to Annabeth's death glare. Did I already mention that she scares the living daylights out of me?

Now I am in a real panic mode and I was cursing myself for even thinking of doing this to Annabeth. I decided to abort my plan altogether. As I was turning back to return Annabeth's Yankees cap to her desk, I heard someone walked out of the showers and I instinctively brought both hands to cover my eyes and to stifle a scream.

Well it wasn't Annabeth but her half-brother Malcolm! He had a towel wrapped around his waist and he came out to throw his dirty clothes to a hamper. By the time he headed back to the showers, I had replaced Annabeth's cap on her desk and I was running out of the cabin as fast as I can.

Then I ran smack into a familiar figure that was standing outside by the door.

Gasp! It was Annabeth!

Annabeth had both arms across her chest and was eyeing me with contempt and disgust. When she growled "Percy Jackson!" I blinked hard several times and gulped twice as much. I wasn't able to speak at all. She must have seen the fear in my eyes while I cower in front of her because she suddenly burst out laughing. The bleating of a familiar voice soon joined the laughter. To make matters worst, the cabin door opened to let out a fully dressed Malcolm who immediately patted my back while clutching his stomach in laughter. Suddenly, I felt like the boy who just got punked with his shorts on his ankles. I felt my face turned red in embarrassment. I stood upright and showed them I was man enough to take this humiliation.

"How did you know?" I asked Annabeth.

"Do you really want to know?" she asked teasingly.

"I thought I had you this time." I muttered.

"Well for your information Mr. Jackson, and also for your future reference. Never fall asleep during an operation. I walked in our cabin to find my Yankees cap missing and found Grover wandering outside. It was not hard to break him because he was a songbird before I can even lay a hand on him."

"I'm so sorry, Percy" Grover pleaded.

"No problem G-man." I gave a reassuring look to Grover.

"Thanks, Percy. I think I should resume inspections now." Grover quickly left us before anyone can react.

I turned to Annabeth and extended my right hand. "Well played, Miss Chase. But you must admit I nearly got you this time." I felt myself blushed as soon as I realized the double meaning of what I had just said.

I saw her blushed too as she shook my hand. My gut feeling told me that her analytical brain was imagining what could have happened.

"Until the next time Percy Jackson. I'm going to take my shower now. I trust that you already know the answer to your question, right?" She raised an eyebrow and entered her cabin with an extra air of superiority.

"I'll stand guard by the door just in case you have other plans to steal our stuff." Malcolm stood by the door like a watchdog.

I stood there for a moment scratching my head when I realized what Annabeth meant. I grinned and started to sprint to look for Grover.

"Hey Grover, wait up!" Grover stopped as I caught up with him and he looked over my shoulder.

"Is she coming after me?" I have to stop myself from laughing. I didn't want Grover to feel any worse.

"No she's not. Relax, Grover." I saw him relaxed a little bit.

After a while Grover spoke. "We failed again, master-r-r." He said in his best Igor imitation. He sounded bad at it but I'm just glad he's feeling a little bit better now.

"No Grover. Annabeth gave us the answer to what we were looking for when she sent Malcolm to the showers. Of course Malcolm had no idea what we were doing there anyway."

"What do you mean?" Grover stopped walking in front of me.

"I saw Malcolm half-naked, Grover. Malcolm has a navel. Ergo, Annabeth must have one too!" I exclaimed triumphantly.

"Therefore Annabeth is not a _fembot_!" Grover announced excitedly.

"Exactly Grover. Annabeth is just simply awesome!" What a girl, I thought.

The truth is Annabeth Chase never, ever made things easy for me.

But do you know what's funny?

I'm still finding a way to get used to it.

**THE END**


End file.
